Pods-itively a clutch performance as Sox nip angels, 5-4

Posted August 04, 2009 11:00 pm

Scot Gregor

There are 25 players on the White Sox' roster, but where would they be without rookie Gordon Beckham, who continued his rookie surge Tuesday night?

Where would Sox be without D.J. Carrasco, their versatile reliever/spot starter?

And don't forget about Scott Podsednik, who wasn't even with the White Sox in April after being released by the Colorado Rockies at the end of spring training.

"I don't think this ballclub is fighting right now for the pennant race without Pods," said Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said after the 33-year-old outfielder singled home Jayson Nix with two outs in the ninth inning, rallying the Sox to a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in front of 30,228 at U.S. Cellular Field.

"I doubt it," Guillen added. "This kid, he's put an injection into the ballclub. He's got big, huge hits. Even the game-winning hit, but he got a double for the rally to tie the game. He's just been great for us."

As a leadoff hitter, Podsednik always has been known for scoring big runs. But his clutch hit off Los Angeles reliever Kevin Jepsen (3-3) was Podsednik's third game-ending hit this season.

With the win, the White Sox (55-52) pulled within 1 game of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

"Well, it's a win, so it ranks up there," Podsednik said of his latest big hit. "Game-winners are always nice. But most importantly we bounced back from a defeat on Sunday against the (Yankees).

Playing a good team like Anaheim, it was nice to win this first one to go in and try to win the series tomorrow."

Beckham got the Sox off to a good start with a first-inning home run off Angels starter John Lackey, and Carlos Quentin added another solo homer in the second.

White Sox starter Jose Contreras couldn't hold the lead, and he got the quick hook with two outs in the third after allowing 3 runs on 1 hit and 5 walks.

"First of all, I think he's got to pick up the tempo," Guillen said. "That's the first thing to me, just attack the strike zone with the best stuff you have. Today, nothing was a strike. No matter what he threw, it was a ball.

"That's a big reason I tried to get him out of there the quickest I could, to give us a chance to win. The last couple games, I think Jose, the rhythm is not there.

"He's always got people on base, he has heavy counts, a lot of heavy counts, a lot of pitches early in the game. I wish in the next start he'll get better because we're in the pennant race and we need him."

If Contreras doesn't show improvement his next time out, he might be out of a job.

Or maybe Carrasco can come to the rescue again.

Coming on for Contreras, Carrasco pitched 4 solid innings while allowing 1 run on 2 hits.

"He's had a few tough times, but every time we give him the ball and we need it the most, he's come out and shown up," Guillen said. "The bullpen did a tremendous job.

"Especially the way the game started. It's nice to see the ballclub, with the way we started, we didn't just fall down. We just keep plugging away at it. We kept playing."

Scot Gregor's game tracker Tuesday's grade: B+. The Sox overcame another shaky start by Jose Contreras and snapped Los Angeles' eight-game road winning streak. End game: Scott Podsednik's RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning was his third game-winning hit this season. No way, Jose: Sox starter Jose Contreras was awful again, allowing 3 runs on 1 hit and 5 walks in 2⅔ innings. Over his last 4 starts, Contreras has pitched 19⅓ innings and allowed 14 earned on 21 hits and 15 walks.